digital culture

digital culture

GIF or JIF: How Do You Pronounce the Animated Image?

The father of the GIF file format, Steve Wilhite, won the lifetime achievement award for creating the Internet age's most meme-able images at Tuesday night's Webby Awards in New York City.

The father of the GIF file format, Steve Wilhite, won the lifetime achievement award for creating the Internet age's most meme-able images at Tuesday night's Webby Awards in New York City. In lieu of The Webby Awards' traditional "5-Word Speech," Steve delivered a five-word GIF instead, set to the epic theme song of 2001: A Space Odyssey. It read: "IT'S PRONOUNCED 'JIF' NOT 'GIF.'"




Which brings us to one of the most highly debated pronunciations of the 21st century: Steve says 'JIF,' but what do you say? How do the cyber citizens of the world articulate the acronym for Graphics Interchange Format? It's natural to assume that the GI in GIF is pronounced with a J sound, like the words giant and ginger. But then again, why not a hard G, like the G in Graphics, for which it stands?

Watch Steve accept his Webby Award for lifetime achievement below, then give us your final verdict: JIF or GIF?

Source: Warner Bros. via Tumblr user awkward-elevator
digital culture

7 Wedding Tech Etiquette Rules

Smartphones at a wedding, and the ability to instantly capture memories and share them with others, can be both a blessing and a curse.

Smartphones at a wedding, and the ability to instantly capture memories and share them with others, can be both a blessing and a curse. When the emotions are high and the champagne flutes are flowing, err on the side of caution before publicly postings certain photos, which could potentially upset the bride and groom (maybe they want to be the first to share photos of the food on Facebook!). Since you're an invited guest, maintain good tech etiquette with our seven-rule guide:

  1. Ask first: Before you start snapping and sharing away, ask the bride and groom if it's OK or if there is anything they would prefer you don't capture. While many people actively engage in social sharing, some prefer a private and intimate affair.
  2. Don't circulate dress photos before the ceremony: As tempting as it is to tweet a photo of the bride's gown before the ceremony, never ever do it! It spoils the surprise for the groom and guests.
  3. Be courteous and cautious: The vibrating buzz from your cell phone is distracting, so keep the attention on the bride and groom by turning your cell phone off, putting it in airplane mode, or silencing the vibrator during the ceremony.
  4. Capture big moments when appropriate: The bride and groom are busy greeting their guests throughout the reception. Don't follow them around like paparazzi, but do snap big moments like toasts, first dances, and the cake cutting. The bride will appreciate seeing your photos before the photographer's come in.

Find out the one photo you should whip out your phone for after the jump.

digital culture

Cool Capture: Summer Colors

The beachside rides, the colors, everything about this picture by Instagram user jennbailey0706 screams Summer — and we'll take it!

The beachside rides, the colors, everything about this picture by Instagram user jennbailey0706 screams Summer — and we'll take it!

Have you been testing out your photography skills and snapped a shot you want to share? Submit your pics to our Cool Capture group or to Instagram with the #coolcapture hashtag, and your pic might be featured on the POPSUGAR Tech homepage. And don't forget to follow @popsugartech on Instagram!

digital culture

Write On: 10 iOS Apps to Add Typography to Photography

We've got font fever!

We've got font fever! Beautiful typography adds that little extra sumpin' to photography, and there are plenty of mobile apps with fonts readily awaiting your clever captions.

We found 10 of the best apps for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad to add photo captions on your snaps. From design elements to filters to fun badges, these text-on-photo apps have much more than type editing tools, too. Continue on to find out how to create pictures worth a thousand words.

digital culture

Pandora Premieres: Early Access to Not-Yet-Released Albums

Internet radio service Pandora is distinguishing itself from the über-competitive music streaming market with its latest station, Pandora Premieres.

Internet radio service Pandora is distinguishing itself from the über-competitive music streaming market with its latest station, Pandora Premieres. Listeners will be able to preview select albums on Pandora before they go on sale with the new early access feature, which kicks off with singer-songwriter Laura Marling and roots rocker John Fogerty.



Both artists' albums are available for only a week at pandora.com/premieres, with the option to preorder the new releases on iTunes straight from the Pandora station.

Drawing in new users is very important in the crowded subscription streaming space, and exclusive recordings and early access to albums help music services tap into artists' fan bases. The competition between music subscription services is only getting stiffer. Google introduced its "radio without rules," Google Play Music All Access, last week.

Pandora still has a financial edge over other streaming services, however. Despite being forced into charging a small number of users due to an increase in royalties earlier this year, the site is still a steal at $4 per month or $36 per year for Internet radio.

digital culture

Cool Capture: A London Eye's View

Everything about this shot by Instagram user undertheyellow is striking.

Everything about this shot by Instagram user undertheyellow is striking. The composition, the geometry of the spokes, the bubbly pods of the London Eye, and the leaves peeking out of the corner are just a few of the visual elements that make this photograph so interesting.

Have you been testing out your photography skills and snapped a shot you want to share? Submit your pics to our Cool Capture group or to Instagram with the #coolcapture hashtag, and your pic might be featured on the POPSUGAR Tech homepage. And don't forget to follow @popsugartech on Instagram!

Gadgets

Where to Watch Microsoft's Xbox Reveal

Microsoft is revealing the next generation of Xbox gaming consoles today at its headquarters in Redmond, WA.

Microsoft is revealing the next generation of Xbox gaming consoles today at its headquarters in Redmond, WA. Tune into a live stream of the event at 10 a.m. PDT/1 p.m. EDT through the Xbox website, Xbox Live, or Spike TV. You can also follow the news via Twitter using the hashtag #XboxReveal or #Xbox.

Will it be an Xbox 720? Kinect 2.0? A new platform for social gaming? We'll keep you updated with all the news from the Microsoft event, so check back later in the day for more info!

digital culture

Meet the "Heart-Stoppingly Beautiful" New Flickr: 1TB Free For All!

At a press event today in New York City, Yahoo!

At a press event today in New York City, Yahoo! made a big announcement for Flickr. And we mean big: the photo sharing site is getting a full makeover and offering one terabyte of storage to every user (that's well over 500,000 photos) — completely free.



Flickr isn't only making space for more photos, it's putting them front and center, too. The new activity feed, which Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer called "heart-stoppingly beautiful," fills your screen with recent uploads from your friends, yourself, and popular communities. The photostream was designed in a similar vein with large, high-res photos stacked on top of each other and a sweeping customizable cover photo.

Mobile is also getting some love. The new user interface is coming to the Flickr Android app, which features full-screen browsing and the same large thumbnail photostream as the website.

Yahoo! is really working its exclamation point as of late — in addition to the Flickr news, the company officially announced it was acquiring Tumblr for a cool $1.1 billion and moving its headquarters to Times Square in New York City.

digital culture

The Most Reblog-Worthy, Pre-Yahoo! Tumblrs on the Web

The deed is done — Tumblr is set to be acquired for $1.1 billion by Yahoo!, who has promised "not to screw it up."

The deed is done — Tumblr is set to be acquired for $1.1 billion by Yahoo!, who has promised "not to screw it up." While the Internet giant claims that the microblogging service will be independently operated with Tumblr founder David Karp as CEO, change is inevitable. Yahoo! announced that the two companies are working to create advertising opportunities on the platform, and that Tumblr will eventually adopt Yahoo!'s search infrastructure and personalization technology.

Tumblr is the second fastest growing social network on the web, just behind Twitter. From a non-number standpoint, Tumblr's strongest suit is its hyperactive, engaging community of artists, thought leaders, cat lovers, gif-makers, and Benedict Cumberbatch fans. That community is now a part of the Yahoo! media empire.

We're looking forward to seeing what Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer has in store for Tumblr — but until then, we're looking back at some of the best blogs of pre-Yahoo!, pre-acquisition, pre-$1.1 billion Tumblr. Here's to hoping they're left untouched.

digital culture

Cool Capture: City Soaring

Talk about great timing.

Talk about great timing. Birds meet buildings in a whole different way in this photo that Instagram user lfsphotos submitted with the tag #coolcapture.

Have you been testing out your photography skills and snapped a shot you want to share? Submit your pics to our Cool Capture group or to Instagram with the #coolcapture hashtag, and your pic might be featured on the POPSUGAR Tech homepage. And don't forget to follow @popsugartech on Instagram!